Horse checking or unchecking device



(No Model.)

" FL H. KITTRELL.

HORSE GHEGKING 0R UNGHEGKING DEVICE.

N0. 543,307. Patented July 23, 1895.

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" UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

. FELIX HUNTER KITTRELL, OF LOCO, TENNESSEE.

HORSE CHECKING OR UNCHECKING DEVICE.

SPECIFICATION foilning part Of Letters Patent N0. 543,307, dated July 23, 18 95.

Application filed April 24, 1895. Serial No. 546,998. (No model.)

.To (ZZZ whom it may concern:

Be it kown that I, FELIX HUNTER KITTRELL, residing at Loco, in the'county of Maury and State of Tennessee, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Checking and Unchecking Devices, of which the following isa specification.

The object of my invention is to provide an attachment for driving-harness which will permit of the releasing of the checkrein, so as to allow the horse to lower his head to drink, and by which also the checkrein may be again tightened and fastened, and all with out the necessity of getting out of the vehicle.

It relates to that form of checking and unchecking device in which, the check-strap is extended beneath a gripping-cam on the saddle and is made to act upon a rearwardly-projecting arm to release said cam by being lifted or moved upwardly; and it consists in the peculiar construction and arrangement of devices operating on this principle, which I will now proceed to fully describe.

Figure 1 is a side elevation partly in section and showing in dotted lines the unchecked position. Fig. 2 is a plan view, and Fig. 3 is a plan of a different form of base-plate.

In the drawings, A represents a frame-plate of metal having upwardly-flanged triangular sides between which is fulcrumed at a the curved lever B. The frame-plate A is firmly rivetedto a basic plate 0 whose ends a c are turned downwardly and inwardly and are designed to clamp the saddle. The baseplate 0 is also provided with a riveted or rigidly-attached brace D, constructed as a fork with downwardly-projecting ends, which lie upon the saddle-frame and are secured thereto by the shanks and screw-nuts of the terrets or rein-rings.

The curved lever has its surface I) beneath its fulcrum formed into a gripping-cam to pinch and hold the check-strap E between'it and the bottom of the frame-plate A. The rear .end of the lever is extended horizontally some distance to form a relatively long arm, and is provided at its extreme end with a horizontally-arranged cross-bar b. The other end of the lever is bent upwardlyand rearwardly over'and past its fulcrum, and is provided with a terminal eye a, or point of attachment, for a spiral spring F, of which there is preferably one on each side, connected at their lower ends to the frame-plate in front.

The check-strap E runs through the frameplate between its upwardly-flanged sides and beneath the cam-lever, and at its front end is provided with a snap-hook e and a cross-bar f, which latter may be made a part of the snap-hook, as shown, or be a separate crossbar riveted to the strap for the purpose described later on.

The operation of this checking and unchecking device is as follows: When the horse is checked up the straight part of the lever is in a horizontal position and pointing rearwardly and the check-strap is pinched and tightly held by the cam whose bite or hold upon the strap is rendered firm, secure, and constant by the springs whose tension is ex erted in the rear of the fulcrum of the camlever. Now, if it is desired to uncheck the horse, the check-strap, which is extended to the dashboard or other convenient part of the vehicle, is seized and raised upwardly in the direction of the arrow. This causes the strap to lift the cross-bar and the rear end of the lever and turn the cam-lever on its fulcrum until the springs pass the dead-center or fulcrum-point, at which time their tension throws the cam-lever entirely over to the front, thus positively and entirely releasing the strap from the bite of the cam. The check-strap being now entirely free may be drawnforward by any horse even with the most tender mouth. To check up the horse again, all that is necessary is to simply pull back on the strap, and when the proper height is attained the cross-bar f rides upon the inclined edges of the side flanges of the frame-plate and, striking against the curved front part of the lever, throws the lever over, while the springs, passing to the rear of the fulcrum, cause the cam to positively bite and clamp the strap in its checked-up position, leaving the rear end of the lever horizontal, ready to be lifted by the strap when it is again desired to uncheck the horse.

Instead of using a base-plate C, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, I may use a base-plate O, as shown in Fig. 3, whose eight prongs 1, 2, 3, 4., 5, 6, 7, and 8 are designed to be clinched to the skirts of the. iron saddle or to the back band of a harness.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A checking and unchecking device comprising a frame plate, a fulcrumed cam lever, a strap arranged to be pinched beneath the cam, and a spring arranged with one end connected to the lever in rear of its fulcrum, and its other end anchored to the frame plate in front of the levers fulcrum to cause said spring to move from one side of the fulcrum of the cam to the other to positively strain the cam in either position substantially as and for the purposes described.

2. A checking and unchecking device comprising a frame plate With inclined front edges, a cam lever fulorumed between the same, and a check strap passing beneath the cam lever and provided in front of the same with a cross bar extending across and adapted to ride up on the inclined edges of the frame plate and throw back the cam lever, substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. The combination of the frame plate having triangular sides; a cam lever fulcrumed between them and having its front end curved over its fulcrum, and its rear end extended straight and provided with a cross bar, and a cam surface beneath its fulcrum; one or more springs fastened to the frame plate connected to the rearwardly curved front end of the lever, and a strap substantially as shown and described.

FELIX HUNTER KlTTRELL.

l/Vitnessesz D. D. ENGLE, H. G. HENDLEY. 

